Chapter 67: Yang Family Town

It is said that the haunting began seven or eight years ago.

At first, the night watchmen saw a shadow in a white dress outside the Mining Tunnel.

On moonlit nights, against the backdrop of the pitch-black mountains, the white dress would drift and flutter like a female ghost.

The night watchmen would be terrified and quickly turn on the floodlights, but once the lights shone, there would be nothing there.

Mining in the mountains has always involved many taboos; once this matter spread, the townspeople and the outside Bosses they collaborated with went to the temple to invite a Bodhisattva.

They also invited a Master to take a look.

As it turned out, the invited Master went down into the mine once, and by the next day, he was so sick he couldn't get up.

A few days after the Bodhisattva was invited, it actually cracked.

Liu Mu became interested upon hearing this, "How was it resolved later?"

"Many people caught the same illness, so the city hospital specially sent a team of experts, who called it Mine Sickness. They gave a whole bunch of reasons, and in the end, they opened a small hospital specifically for treatment—that's the occupational disease hospital up ahead."

As He Qizheng said this, Liu Fugui, who was listening along, breathed a sigh of relief.

To tell the truth, people like them who do business are most afraid of encountering unexplainable things like gods and ghosts.

Liu Mu, however, was not so optimistic, "And then? Did the white-dressed ghost never appear at the mine again?"

"It appeared," He Qizheng's three words made the atmosphere heavy once again.

"I also heard this from my dad chatting with others. It appears on a few nights every month. Everyone organized people to try and catch it, but without exception, they would fall ill the next day. Later, there was no other way, so they could only listen to the Master's words and set out some food and drink to pay respects."

Li Gang was sitting on the ground resting his legs and didn't quite believe it, "What era is this? Where would ghosts come from? It must be man-made."

"No era can explain this," He Qizheng explained, "Gangzi, in these mountains of ours, it's better to believe in such things than not. Besides, later on, after we started setting out offerings on time every month, the mine could be mined normally. Everyone tacitly accepted this, and no one made any more trouble."

"Then now that no one is making offerings, is the female ghost out causing trouble again?"

When asked, even a big man like He Qizheng couldn't help but hug his arms tightly, "Don't say that. Those few people who were poisoned before, it's said their symptoms were severe Mine Sickness. They hid it at the time just because they were afraid the Boss wouldn't save them..."

"If they see that female ghost again, tell me immediately; I'll go meet her." Although the possibility was low, Liu Mu was actually looking forward to it.

If even the disaster didn't affect that 'female ghost', it meant this town definitely still had secrets.

"There is one thing I have always found very strange," Liu Fugui had been thinking for a long time and really couldn't hold it back anymore, "Have you noticed that among the people rescued this time... there isn't a single female comrade."

Reminded by him, the others noticed, "That's right, A Zheng, you don't have some bad custom of favoring men over women here, do you?"

Li Gang looked back at the pitch-black interior of the house, a chill running up his spine.

When he was executing missions, he had seen villages on foreign borders that treated women almost like livestock to be traded.

He Qizheng hurriedly explained, "There is a little bit of that, but it's just wanting to have more sons. The people in their town are very rich; almost all of them bought houses in the city, so their families must have gone to live in the city."

"That shouldn't mean there isn't a single one, right?" Li Gang still felt something was wrong, "In such a big town, there are always professions that require women... cough cough... I don't mean it that way, I mean teachers, cooks, waitresses, there should be some women, don't you think?"

Liu Mu said bluntly, "There are none in the mine, neither alive nor dead, unless... the corpses were eaten by something."

The three of them shut their mouths at the same time, and it was Li Gang who spoke again, "Boss, can you not be so terrifying when you talk? I'm scared."

It was Liu Fugui who grasped the point, "Boss, did you discover something in the Mining Tunnel?"

"I didn't discover anything at all," Liu Mu finished the Eight-Treasure Porridge in her hand; the warm food flowed down her throat, the only drawback being that she was only half-full.

"Niu Boyi and I suspect there is something dangerous in the mining area, which is why there isn't a single corpse inside, not even a Mutated Animal. Where does the problem lie?"

"Let A Zheng go down with you," Liu Fugui tore off a piece of hard bread; they didn't have much food left, "We must mine coal as soon as possible. If we can't exchange for food with the Base in time, we can't afford to feed so many people."

Dozens of people is no joke; now even water has to be transported in, and Liu Fugui's heart was hanging for Liu Mu.

Liu Mu knew what he was worrying about, "Let's resolve the matter today; we'll split into two groups..."

Although the house with the collapsed wall was large, after accommodating dozens of people, there was no room left for Niu Boyi.

Niu Boyi disliked that they smelled very strange and didn't like staying with these people either.

It had clearly told the Master about this, but the Master wouldn't let it go to the Mine, and wouldn't let it go out to play, just guarding these stinky humans—it was truly annoying for a dog.

The gnawed bone became more fragrant the more it was chewed; Niu Boyi's pair of dog eyes stared fixedly at the people over there, wishing it could chew their bones too.

Forget it, the Master said it couldn't eat people; the dog's greenish eyes were filled with resentment.

"Woof woof woof, hmph! You people are too stinky; even a dog wouldn't eat you."

This bark made the few people chatting around Liu Fugui and Li Gang flinch in fright.

"Leader, are the dogs outside this big now?"

"More than that," Liu Fugui spread his arms and said exaggeratedly, "The rats are this big too; didn't those young men who went out yesterday say so? They're like little calves. If you encounter one that isn't very poisonous, drain the blood, boil it, and you can still eat it."

Among the few people chatting with him, there was an older one named Yang Da who loved to talk, "Don't even mention it, back in the seventies and eighties before mining started, we really did make dried rat meat. We were poor back then; the rats on the mountains and the soft-shelled turtles in the water were all good things."

In a town, everyone with the same surname is related; this Yang Da was even the distant uncle of the previously poisoned college student Yang Pingxi.

Speaking of the mountains, Liu Fugui deliberately guided the conversation, "There must have been many good things in the mountains back then, right? Are there still any after mining started?"

Yang Da was scared by Niu Boyi's stare and squatted, moving a step closer to Liu Fugui, "There should be, but there are fewer. Mining ruined the mountains, and many animals were scared away by the machines and people. Young people don't want to go into the mountains either."

A glimmer of light appeared in Liu Fugui's small eyes, "If the Mutated Mountain Rats in the mountains can be eaten, your food supply wouldn't be so scarce, and our quota isn't much..."

"That won't do!" Yang Da hurriedly waved his hands, looking completely terrified, "Can't eat them, you'll get sick if you eat them; you absolutely must not eat them."

Seeing this expression, Liu Fugui spread his hands helplessly, "Big brother, what kind of world is this now? Never mind getting sick; having a mouthful to eat so you don't starve to death is already a blessing from Amitabha. Why don't we go hunt a few at the place where the Mountain Rats appeared a few days ago before my Boss gets back, and let you guys have some meat..."

"Can't, brother, we can't do this thing; the animals in these mountains belong to *that one*, they aren't for us to eat," Yang Da saw Liu Fugui pick up the gun leaning against the wall and, seeing he was really going out, grabbed him, "You really can't go, can you?"